A Silent Night
by Vashti93
Summary: Raven and Tim talk about their feelings on Christmas night. (This was a rushed, last minute story. And I had a hard time coming up with a title. Also, I own nothing in the DCU.)


Raven sat on the bed reading her newest novel called _The Onyx Sky _by Ronni Gem Sterner*. It had been a Christmas gift from Tim. She didn't know how he'd been able to get a hand on the copy. The novel wasn't set to release for another two months. Raven sensed him before he approached the door. "Come in, Tim," she said, a small smile gracing her lips. Tim quietly shut the door behind him while gracefully juggling two steaming hot mugs of what Raven could only assume was cocoa. "Here you go," he handed a mug to her before sitting across from her on the bed. "Did you already finish it?" he gestured with his head to the recently closed novel.

"No. Almost," Raven said with a smile. "Thank you so much for it. How did you even…?"

"Being a ward of Bruce Wayne does have its perks."

"Well, you saved me from having to stand in line for hours. Thank you."

"You have thanked me more than ten times today, Raven," Tim said, staring at her with an unclear emotion in his blue eyes. "It really is no problem." After a minute of comfortable silence, Raven asked, "What are you still doing up?" Tim shrugged. "I promised you an amazing Christmas day," he said looking out the window at the falling snow. "It's not Christmas without a steaming hot mug of instant hot chocolate with fake marshmallows," he finished with a smile. "This is Haley's brand. It is amazing. It's better than Alfred's homemade hot chocolate." Raven released a fake gasp. "Tim," she said, her lavender eyes dancing, "don't let Alfred hear you say that."

"He'd kill me."

"Yeah. And then we'd have to find a new team leader."

"There's always Damian," he answered causing Raven to choke on her beverage. "Something tells me he's plotting my demise."

"He definitely is," Raven nodded in agreement. "He wasn't too upset when you disappeared, and we all thought you were dead." Tim shook his head before saying, "I always wondered what an offspring of Bruce's would be like. Now I know, psychotic."

"You can't judge _all _of Bruce's offspring based on your interactions with Damian."

"_All?" _Tim looked at her inquisitively. "What do you mean _all_? You mean Bruce has more kids out there?"

"No," Raven said. "That's not what I mean. Bruce doesn't know yet. I don't think Shayera knows, either."

"Wait," Tim said, "Shay is pregnant!" he nearly shouted.

"Shush!" Raven gasped. "Not so loud."

"How do you know?"

"I sense something when everyone was opening gifts today. There was another…aura surrounding her."

"Bruce is gonna be a dad…again?" Tim smiled into his cocoa. "Are you certain?"

"It was a really weak aura," Raven said. "But I'm 90% certain she is with child."

"Way to go Bruce," Tim said taking another sip of his cocoa.

"What about you?" Raven asked after a beat.

"Me? I don't have any children walking around. Trust me. I would know."

"No," Raven said with a chuckle. "Have you ever thought about the whole family thing. I know Richard and Barbara are planning to settle down. And even Jason thinks about it from time to time."

"Jason thinks about having a family?" Tim asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. Usually when Rose is in the room."

"Really?" Tim looked at her in genuine surprise. Raven nodded. "Well you're the telepath," he continued. "You tell me. Do I think about having children from time to time?"

"I don't know. I don't read your mind."

"You don't? Not even a little?"

"No," Raven said. "I try to respect everyone's privacy. I admit I do peak into people's minds when I'm bored. But never yours." Tim cocked his head at her in confusion. "It would be super easy for me to," Raven continued. "Of all the Robins, you are the most open with your emotions, but I always make sure the walls in my mind are especially reinforced when I'm around you," she finished staring at her almost empty mug.

"Why?" Tim asked.

"I don't know. You've always been nothing but honest with me so I don't feel the need to-"

"That's not what I mean," Tim said. "Why do you make sure your walls are especially reinforced when I'm around."

"So I don't accidentally read your emotions or thoughts."

"Really?" he asked with a raised brow. "Or is it because you don't want to accidentally reveal something about yourself?" Raven opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out. _Dang it,_ she thought while simultaneously cursing his genius level intellect. She had to play this cool. "What would I reveal about myself that you don't already know?" she asked slowly.

"I don't know," he said not taking his eyes off of her as he drank more of his hot chocolate, "you tell me." Raven looked down at her now empty mug, allowing her hair to cover half of her face. "That chocolate was really good," she said softly.

"This always happens to us," Tim said gently taking her mug and placing it on a table beside the bed along with his. "No matter what we're talking about, no matter how lighthearted the subject matter, we always reach this point in our conversation where one of us says somethings poignant; I then ask a semi-probing question; and then we usually lapse into an awkward silence until one of us bids the other goodnight. But that is not going to happen this time. We are going to sit here until what needs to be said is said."

"What needs to be said?" Raven asked trying to desperately take control of the conversation. Tim didn't answer. He just gave her a knowing look that she simultaneously hated and loved. Raven allowed her hair to remain in her face as she slowly met Tim's gaze. He scooted closer to her. "You don't have to hide from me, Raven," he said softly.

"I know," she whispered in response. He slowly raised his hand to her face, gently placing her hair behind her ear. He didn't like it when she hid her face like that. She gently bit her lip before saying, "I'm not good at this."

"At what?" Tim asked.

"This," she gestured to both of them. "Feeling…my own feelings."

"Raven-"

"You invited me to Christmas with your family."

"Yeah," Tim said slowly, no longer knowing where the conversation was headed.

"Why?"

"What?"

"You only invited me."

"Everyone else had plans."

"You really expect me to believe that Rose willingly spent Christmas with Bart and his family?"

"Okay, so I bribed Rose," Tim admitted. "And I made sure none of the others invited you to their family gatherings. But I only did that because I wanted to spend time with you."

"Why?" Raven asked.

"Why do you think?" he asked.

"Tim," Raven said in an annoyed voice.

"You're beautiful. And smart. And your life has consisted of one crappy moment after another. And yet here you are. Not watching the world burn. People have snapped under less pressure, but you – you wake up every day knowing that it you will be disappointed in some way. And still you fight. The Justice League tossed you out simply for being born, and you didn't go on a killing streak. You decided to stay and fight for this undeserving planet anyway. And then your mom. First, she's afraid of you. Then she wants nothing to do with you. And when you guys do finally reconcile, she's killed two hours later. Your life sucks, Raven. You have been dealt one of the worst hands. Ever. But you still wake up everyday and decide to be the hero. And I look at you, I watch you. And I can't help but wonder, how can I not fall in love with someone like you?" Raven stared at him. The shock was evident on her face. She honestly had not been expecting him to say that. Any of that. "Tim," she spoke his name softly. He scooted closer to her; their knees were touching. "You make me sound like an incredible person," Raven whispered.

"You are," Tim stated firmly. "And it took me being stuck in some dimension with a guy named Oz to realize I love you. And not the way I love Connor and Cassie and Rose and maybe Garfield and Bart. I am in love with you. I want you to be the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I see when I go to bed at night. I want to shower you with all of the books in the world. I want to take you out on expensive dates and pay for dinner. I don't want to split the check. Not because of some macho man thing, but because I believe that you don't owe this world a single penny. You've already given the world your all. I want to share in your fears. I want to carry your burdens. I want to take your pain. I want to hurt when you hurt, and I want to laugh when you laugh. I want make you smile. I want you to beat me up when we spar. And I want to make love to you. A lot. I want to take care of you. I…I love you." Raven could only stare at him in awe. "And I know you feel the same about me, too," Tim finished.

"How do you know I love you like that?" she asked.

"A number of things. But mostly because you blush every time I walk into a room that you are also occupying."

"Wait – what – what – what? I do not blu – how does that – I don't blush," Raven could feel her cheeks getting red. "You know," she said at Tim's knowing smirk, "you're not that cute."

"Oh I think I am," he said with a smile as he leaned forward, capturing her lips in a soft kiss that left her breathless. "Merry Christmas," Tim said after pulling away.

"Merry Christmas," Raven whispered back before Tim pulled her into another kiss.

* * *

***Not a real book. I based it off of _The Starless Sea _by Erin Morgenstern**


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